Card feeder



c. D. BEAN CARD 'FEEDER Oct. 6, 1959 Filed Jilly 27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR CMQS flea/n C. D. BEAN Oct. 6, 1959 CARD- FEEDER Filed July 27, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR as I. fiean/ 2,907,076 CARD FEEDER Charles Detwiler Bean, Coleston, Pa.

Application July 27, 1955, Serial No. 524,736

2 Claims. (Cl. 1979) The present invention relates to a card feeder of the character which is used in producing a roving for spinning on the woolen or worsted system.

A purpose of the invention is to increase the uniformity of the weight of stock which is supplied, thus in turn making a more even roving for spinning on the woolen or worsted system.

A further purpose is to operate the spike apron of a card feeder at increased speed.

A further purpose is to do away with the objectionable vibration which has heretofore occurred in card feeders.

Further purposes appear in the specification and in the claims.

In the drawings I have chosen to illustrate one only of the numerous embodiments in which my invention may appear, selecting the form shown from the standpoints of convenience in illustration, satisfactory operation and clear demonstration of the principles involved.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective of a card feeder according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary diagrammatic longitudinal section of a card feeder according to the invention.

Figure 3 is a diagrammatic top plan view of the card feeder of Figure 2, showing only the spike roll and spike apron.

Figure 3a is a fragmentary enlargement of Figure 3.

Describing in illustration but not in limitation and referring to the drawings:

In conventional spinning on the woolen system, the stock after preliminary preparation, is charged into a stock bin at the inlet side of the card feeder, and is picked up by a spike apron which carries a thin layer of stock up the inlet side, over the top and down the discharge side.

As the stock on the spike apron goes up the inlet side it is swept or engaged by an oscillating comb which travels through an arc of about 30 opposite to the direction of motion of the spike apron. The comb has teeth which are beyond the points of the spikes and it tends to pick off any stock which extends beyond the spike apron and return this stock to the stock bin.

This serves to remove excess of stock and also to distribute the stock more uniformly on the spike apron.

On the output side of the spike apron the stock is taken off by a take-off mechanism which may be a spike roll or a rotary beater, and is discharged into the weighing pan and from the weighing pan deposited on to a breaker feed table, as well known.

The best which can be done in ordinary practice in respect to uniformity is plus or minus 5 to percent. Yarn within these limits is accepted as meeting the standards of good workmanship. At times, unfortunately, the process has gone out of control and much greater variations have been obtained.

When such yarn is used for the pile yarn of pile fabrics such as carpets and rugs, especially when woven without a jacquard on the velvet or tapestry carpet system, the

v spikes 32 in the direction of the arrow 33. The spikes 2,907,076 Patented Oct. 6, 1959 variation is sufficient to cause streaks that are readilyvisible to the naked eye. In other words, one of the pile warp ends may be on the high side of the tolerance and the adjoining pile warp end may be on the low side of the tolerance, and this difference is quite noticeable in some cases. Similar effects occur in weaving flat fabrics and these effects in flat fabrics are sometimes more objectionable because the pile tends to break up the observation of the streaks.

A further difficulty encountered in the present prac-- tice is that the oscillating cornb imparts considerable vibration and it' has not been possible to increase the;

speed of the card feeder substantially without damage: to the mechanism by reason of the vibration.

By the present invention it is possible to improve thetolerance in weight of each dumping to a very low percentage, thereby making the roving more uniform in weight.

Furthermore, by the invention it is possible to speed up the operation of the card feeder without objection: able vibration, thus greatly increasing the output.

In accordance with the invention, the oscillating comb on the input or stock bin side of the spike apron is eliminated and the function of removing excess stock and uniformly distributing the stock on the spike apron is performed instead by a spike roll. The spike roll according to the invention is preferably operated so that its spikes travel opposite to the direction of the adjoining spikes on the apron.

Furthermore, the spikes on the spike roll intrude beneath the level of the points of the spikes on the spike apron, preferably to a distance of to inches and most desirably about 4 inch, thus increasing the uniformity of stock distribution.

The spikes on the spike roll are extending in a trailing direction with respect to the radius, suitably between 5 and 45 degrees and most desirably about 30 degrees with respect to the radius of the spike roll. This along with the other features tends to comb the stock onthe spike apron into a finer, more uniform layer. A

The spikes on the spike roll are staggered in successive rows and the spike apron spikes are staggered with respect to all of the spikes on the spike roll. Thus there can be no excessive bunching of fiber due to too close approach between the spikes on the spike apron and the spikes on the spike roH.

As shown in the drawings, the card feeder of the invention has a frame 20 which mounts a spike apron 21 supported and driven over rolls 22 and 23 at the bottom and top and supported intermediately by rolls 24 and 25. The bottom and top rolls have shafts 26 and 27 carrying pulleys 28 and 30 interconnected by a belt 31, and one of the shafts is driven by means not shown to progress the desirably are inclined forwardly of the order of 30 degrees with respect to the perpendicular, as well known.

The spike apron is desirably inclined so that its upper end is slightly forward with respect to the lower end, as well known.

On the inlet end the spike apron is in contact with the interior of a stock bin 34 which contains the wool or other fiber from which the machine is producing a roving.

Positioned above the stock bin and engaging the spike apron is a spike roller 35 turning on a shaft 36 under the action of pulley 37 which is driven by belt 38 connected to pulley 40 on shaft 27. The belt 38 is reversed so that the spike roll turns in the direction opposite to the direction of motion of the spike apron.

The spikes 41 on the spike roll extend in a trailing direction with respect to the direction of motion of the spike roll and preferably at an angel of about 30 degrees.

to the radius of the spike roll. The points of the spikes on the spike roll intrude beneath the level of the points of the spikes on the spike apron, desirably in the range between ,4; inch and inch and preferably about inch. The spikes on the spike roll are staggered in alternate rows, for example one row 42 having spikes in a succession of lines 43, 44 and the next row 45 having spikes in lines 46, 47 which are in staggered relation or offset axially with respect to the lines 43, 44, and these pairs of closely spaced rows 42, 45 extending around the spike roll.

' The spike apron spikes are in lines 48 which are intervening between the respective lines 43, 46, 44, 47 or in staggered relation with respect to them. Thus there is no possibility that undue crowding or interference between spikes can occur.

The spike apron can be speeded up to a linear speed of 36 feet per minute or slightly faster, according to the stock being used. In accordance with the invention and under these conditions using a spike roll 36.5 inches in circumference, I find that a spike roll speed of 63 r.p.m. or 189 feet per minute linear speed is very satisfactory.

The stock which is being formed on the spike apron passes over to the opposite side and is there taken off by a heater roll 50 "which is turning in the direction so that its fiappers move in the same direction as the spike apron spikes. The beater roll brushes off the fiber as well known from the spike apron and dischargesit through a chute 51 into a weighing pan 52 which is supported on a weighing arm 53 of well known character. When the weighing pan tips it discharges on the breaker feed table 53' and the increment of stock is thus fed along the table.

In operation, the spike roll and the beater roll turn continuously, whereas the spike apron stops when the weighing pan tips and does not advance again until the empty weighing pan rises again.

As the spike apron carrying the stock advances, the excess is brushed back into the hoper by the interlacing of the teeth of the spike roller with the teeth of the spike apron.

The stock which is permitted to pass the spike roll on the spike apron is taken off by the beater roll and deposited into the weighing pan and it builds up an increment until the Weighing pan dips and opens, discharging the increment of stock on the breaker feed table.

The invention While finding a wide application in the spinning of Wool, is also applicable to the spinning of synthetic stock and blends of wool and synthetic stock, as well known.

In view of my invention and disclosure, variations and modifications to meet individual whim or particular need will doubtless become evident to others skilled in the art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying the structure shown, and I therefore claim all such insofar as they fall within the reasonable spirit and scope of my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A card feeder for feeding fiber on the woolen or worsted system, having a spike apron and take-off on the output side of the spike apron, a Weighing pan on the output side receiving the stock from the take-off and a hopper on the input side of the spike apron, in combination with a spike roll on the input side of the spike apron having a series of spikes which intrude beneath the position of the points of the spikes on the spike apron, the spikes on the spike roll being angularly disposed in a trailing direction with respect to the radius of the spike roll, the respective spikes on the spike roll being positioned on opposite sides of the spikes on the spike apron and the circumferentially adjoining spikes throughout the spike roll being in aixally staggered relation to one another, and means for turning the spike roll oppositely to the direction of motion on the spikes on the spike apron.

2. A card feeder of claim 1, in which the spikes on the spike roll are arranged in successive double rows of staggered spikes, the two rows making up each double row being relatively closely circumferentially spaced, and the rearward row of one double row being relatively more widely circumferentially spaced from the forward row of the next double row.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 43,959 Bolette Aug. 23, 1864 655,167 Prior Sept. 3, 1901 2,009,658 Henry L July 30, 1935 2,261,842 Brenncn Nov. 4, 1941 2,694,229 Gardes Nov. 16, 1954 2,744,294 Buresh et al. May 8, 1956 a. an 

